Karl pleased with point

27 October 2014

mkdons.com

Karl Robinson felt the point away at Doncaster Rovers was hard-earned and wants his players to use it as a positive moving forward.

Robinson’s men played out a goalless draw with Donny on Saturday, a result which saw the Dons reduce the gap on second-placed Peterborough United to just four points, despite slipping out of the top six.

“We did really well and in the final three minutes we had a real good go and had three or four great chances which we just couldn’t capitalise on. We had to ride our luck at times too, though, as they had a one or two chances.

“I was waiting for the net to stop (Carl Baker’s header). I asked him how close it was afterwards and he said ‘centimetres’. I thought Benik’s shot had gone in too and when Tom hit the volley, I couldn’t see it missing.

“We’ll use this point as a positive. We’ve dropped out of the top six but we’ve moved a point closer to second but that’s the way the league is. The results have tightened everybody up but we’re where want to be, just sitting behind and keeping our feet firmly on the ground.

“The next time we play in the league it will be against Swindon Town at home, which will be a very difficult game. We’ll be home, though, and there is nothing better than playing in our own stadium.”

One real positive for Robinson was that his side kept their third straight clean sheet away from home, to take them up to eight for the season which is just four off their entire total from the 2013/14 campaign.

“We had 12 clean sheets the whole of last season and we’re already at eight before November this year. There’s another positive for us, as well as scoring more goals. Have we moved forward and are we better than last year? Yes we are, but we need to be considerably better if we want to be successful.”

Defender Tom Flanagan played a key role in the Dons’ shutout, in only his second start of the season, and Robinson was keen to praise the 23-year-old.

“I thought (Tom) was man of the match,” he added. “When he was called upon he didn’t make any mistakes, and everything he did today was perfect. That’s why we have him in the squad because he’s a good player.

“We didn’t have Kyle McFadzean, Lee Hodson or George Baldock available for selection or Danny Green and Dean Bowditch, but we still put in a good performance, so we’re very pleased."